Farmers urged to upgrade, with 60,000 3G-only devices still in use

The National Farmers Federation has called on regional Australians to stop ignoring the 3G shutdown and prioritise their own safety.

Farmers are particularly vulnerable as the big telcos shut down the old 3G network. Picture: News Corp

Thousands of iPhones, Samsung Galaxy devices and Google Pixels have been earmarked and blocked by telcos as 3G networks have been shut down.

Medical devices, iPads, tablets, modems and fall alarms have also been rendered useless by the changes, which under new laws require telcos to identify and cut services from devices not capable of making emergency calls.

These older devices, most of which were released before 2019, do not support emergency calling and had leaned on the 3G network to reach triple-0, despite many of the devices being classified as 4G or 5G compatible.

The shutdown affects mobile phones and smart devices unable to connect to 4G frequency band 28 (700Mhz) and devices not capable of using Voice over LTE (VoLTE) for emergency calling.

Despite publicity campaigns and millions of messages being sent, there are major concerns that there are thousands of 3G devices still in use and set to be cut off.

The National Farmers’ Federation and Regional Tech Hub issued a notice to farmers urging them not to ignore the shutdown as it was “a safety issue first and foremost”.

“If an issue arises, I’m urging farmers not to sit on their hands. The sooner you report the issue to Telstra, Optus, or to the Regional Tech Hub, the sooner it gets addressed,” said NFF president David Jochinke.

“Information is critical to ensuring this transition has positive outcomes for rural communities, and we must do our part.”

Regional Tech Hub general manager Jen Medway warned there were about 60,000 3G-only handsets still in use across the country.

Australian telcos say there is little more they can do to notify customers to replace their 3G devices, adding that tens of millions of messages have been sent to those who will be affected.

Telstra has warned that some devices yet to have their software upgraded – including iPhones yet to be upgraded to iOS10 and Android devices not using Android 9 – could also be affected.

TPG was the first telco to switch off its 3G network last December to focus on 4G and 5G. This month it announced it has now activated more than 3500 live 5G sites, covering about 98.9 per cent of the population across the 12 biggest cities and regions.

David Yeo – the executive overseeing TPG’s 5G rollout – said the telco sent out “millions of communications” to its customers ahead of the 3G shutdown to minimise disruption.

“We did a comprehensive awareness program on that, so at the time when we did turn 3G off, we had very little customer interruption or sort of negative effect,” Mr Yeo said.

“Now, obviously there were some people who left it to (the last) minute and came into the shop to change their devices over, but we haven’t had a lot of negative sentiment in that respect.

“Even though we’ve turned 3G off, we are working with the different government agencies and Optus and Telstra just to make sure that when they turn it off, that everything’s fine. So at the moment, I would say TPG is very comfortable with where we’re at.”

TPG plans to triple the number of 5G sites in regional Australia early next year as part of its $1.6bn network-sharing deal with Optus, which last week won the Open­signal Mobile Network Experience Report fastest download speed award for the seventh consecutive time.

TPG escaped its 3G shutdown relatively unscathed as the majority of the network’s customers live in metropolitan areas.

The nation’s two largest telcos have come under far more scrutiny, and have collectively delayed their shutdowns several times before committing to the final shutdown on Monday October 28.

Optus said it had sent more than 10 million messages to customers and offered 20,000 compatible device upgrades prior to the shutdown.

The telco’s head of new products, Harvey Wright, said Optus simply can no longer “support handsets that cannot call triple-0”.

“Our 3G-impacted customers have been receiving information from Optus for many months about the need to update their handset,” he said.

“This will include devices that may have worked on the 4G network but revert to 3G to make triple-0 calls in an emergency. For safety reasons, these devices will no longer be supported on our network consistent with new government regulations.”

Australian telcos and the government have come under criticism from industry insiders who claim the shutdown will have a serious impact on tourists as well as Australians who have purchased phones overseas – known as grey market devices.

The West Australian government announced a crackdown on stores selling refurbished mobiles warning it had received consumer complaints and it was pursuing several operators for selling phones that would not function after the 3G shutdown despite being purchased just weeks before.

Other experts have warned that the cost of maintaining 3G networks was simply unviable and had begun to hinder the development of 4G and 5G networks.

Verizon Connect product manager Paul Miller said while the transition posed some challenges, ultimately it would lead to a more reliable network.

“The urgency of this transition cannot be overstated. Delays in upgrading, due to hardware or installer constraints, pose significant risks of disruption, particularly for critical sectors like agriculture, mining, fleet management and healthcare and I believe that the industry must act now to ensure a smooth shift, minimising any impact on our customers and the community,” he said.

Optus’s Mr Wright agreed, adding “there are huge benefits to switching off this old technology for our 4G and 5G networks. Customers will have a better experience on our network once the switch off has occurred”.

Originally published as Farmers urged to upgrade, with 60,000 3G-only devices still in use